Calendar of events

Projects

Protecting Croatia’s geoheritage

Croatia has a long traditional of protecting its geoheritage. The first Caves Act was passed in 1900, while the site Rupnica was proclaimed the first geological nature monument in 1948. Upon the discovery of a prehistoric human fossil, Hušnjakovo was proclaimed the first paleontological nature monument.

The 2008 Strategy and Action Plan for the Protection of Biological and Landscape Diversity of the Republic of Croatia (OG 143/08) called for greater attention to be paid in protecting geodiversity and geoheritage. The conservation of geodiversity and geotopes was set as a strategic goal in order to preserve the biological and landscape diversity and to ensure the in situ and ex situ conservation of the non-renewable geomorphology and geoheritage of the Republic of Croatia.

Today, 433 protected areas are registered in the Ministry of Environmental and natural protection's Register of protected natural values. Of these, 51 are protected as geosites. Geoheritage is protected in the categories of special reserves (paleontological) and nature monuments (geological, paleontological, geological/paleontological, geomorphological and hydrological), and protected minerals (Vrgorac siliceous nodular concretions). The majority of localities (36) are protected as geomorphological nature monuments.

Geoheritage is also found within the borders of already protected areas, such as strict reserves, national parks, nature parks, regional parks and significant landscapes.

The most intensive period for the protection of geosites was during the 1960s, when a total of 28 sites received protection. However, a stagnation in the protection process was recorded in the periods from 1950 to 1958, from 1986 to 1994 and from 1998 to 2008.

Since 2008, based on the expert substantiations for preventative protection of the State Institute for Nature Protection, the Nature Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection has proclaimed five sites as preventatively protected geosites: Crnika on the island of Pag as a special geological/paleontological reserve; the cave in the Tounj quarry as a geomorphological nature monument, the Vrtare male Pit as a geological/paleontological nature monument, the Brbiscica bay as a geological/paleontological and geomorphological special reserve and Gorjanović loess profile in Vukovar as a geological nature monument.

Literature:

Zwicker, G., Žeger Pleše, I., Zupan, I. (2008): Protection of the geoheritage of the Republic of Croatia, State Institute for Nature Protection, Zagreb